Family is a studio album by trumpeter Roy Hargrove, recorded on January 26–29, 1995, and released on June 20 of the same year, by Verve Records. It features Hargrove on trumpet in a quintet with saxophonist Ron Blake and three different rhythm sections (piano, bass, drums), plus guest artists: trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and saxophonists David "Fathead" Newman and Jesse Davis.
Reception Scott Yanow, writing for AllMusic, stated: "This well-rounded set not only features trumpeter Roy Hargrove with his mid-'90s quintet... but with two other rhythm sections and a few special guests. Hargrove shows off his warm tone on 'The Nearness of You'..., and other highlights include the lyrical 'Pas de Trois,'... Larry Willis' 'Ethiopia,' and a driving version of 'Firm Roots.' A meeting between Hargrove and Wynton Marsalis on the bop standard 'Nostalgia' is disappointingly tame, but otherwise this is a high-quality modern hard bop release."
The Rolling Stone Album Guide wrote: "Family similarly uses several stars with little focus... The album's saving graces are the fiercely bopping 'Firm Roots' and the almost eerily introspective Booker/Hargrove duet on 'Ethiopia.
Don Heckman of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "Hargrove now appears in yet another carefully planned production—one that embraces players from every stage of his brief but impressive career".
Track listing All tracks are written by Roy Hargrove except where noted.
Personnel Musicians
Roy Hargrove – trumpet (1–3, 5–8, 10, 12–15), flugelhorn (4, 9, 11) Wynton Marsalis – trumpet (12) David "Fathead" Newman – tenor saxophone (4), flute (13) Ron Blake – tenor saxophone (1–3, 6, 12, 14, 15), soprano saxophone (15) Jesse Davis – alto saxophone (9, 15) John Hicks (8), Larry Willis (9), Ronnie Mathews (5), Stephen Scott (1–4, 6, 7, 10, 12–15) – piano Christian McBride (7), Rodney Whitaker (1–4, 6, 10, 12–15), Walter Booker (5, 8, 9, 11) – double bass Gregory Hutchinson (1–3, 6, 7, 12, 15), Jimmy Cobb (4, 5, 8, 9, 13), Karriem Riggins (10), Lewis Nash (14) – drums
Technical
Roy Hargrove, Larry Clothier – producer Richard Seidel – executive producer Camille Tominaro – production coordinator Beverly Harris – release coordinator Troy Halderson – recording engineer Adam Blackburn, Jonathan Mooney, Mark Agostino – assistant recording engineer Ed Rak – recording, editing, sequencing, mastering Hardgroove Ent. Inc. – management, booking David Lau – art direction Patricia Lie – art direction, design Michael Lavine – photography Jimmy Katz – photography (of personnel)
References